How to Create A Custom Cleaning Schedule

There is lots of information out there about keeping your home clean using a cleaning schedule. The problem with some of it is, it may not apply to you either because you don’t have to do certain chores (no vacuuming because you only have hardwood floors for example) or it simply won’t fit your lifestyle. How do you make a cleaning schedule that will work for you? Here are some tips on How to Create a Custom Cleaning Schedule that will fit your lifestyle.

How to Create a Custom Cleaning Schedule

Decide what exactly needs to be done and how frequently. Start by creating a list of the chores that need to be done. Break it down into categories of frequency such as daily, twice a week, weekly, monthly, and seasonally. I like to match certain chores with others and make them one chore. For instance, I place taking out the garbage with cleaning the kitchen. I do sweeping with changing out/scooping the cat box. I figure I will be doing these two actions together anyway, so I keep them paired together as parts of one job. We did this because it used to be that one person was in charge of sweeping and another was in charge of the cat box and they usually wouldn’t get done at the same time creating a messy situation.

Decide who will be doing the chores on the list. If you have older children and a spouse, try to get them involved in your cleaning schedule. This will help things feel like less work on everyone and things will get done.

Make a list of deep cleaning chores as well as daily cleaning chores. Deep cleaning usually takes more time, but it can take less if you do it more frequently. The biggest way I see this is with something like the oven. If I clean it out and wipe it down weekly, it takes me mere minutes. If I wait several months to clean the oven out, it can take overnight soaking and lots of elbow grease. Keep your lists of daily chores and deep cleaning chores easily visible to everyone in the family.

Don’t make things overly complicated. Setting priorities in what you need cleaned will allow you to make a cleaning schedule work for you without it being too demanding or time consuming. For instance, does your home really need a complete sweep or vacuum daily? Could it only be done a couple times a week and still have you feeling like things are clean? Don’t nit-pik chores, either. As with the combining suggestion above, make them easy to do. We only have 4 basic chores we do daily. These are picking up the living room, doing the dishes/cleaning the kitchen, scooping the cat box/sweeping and 1 load of laundry per day. With 3 of us currently living here (my husband, myself and my teen stepdaughter), we are able to only spend about 15 minutes or less cleaning most days, other than the dishes which tend to take a little longer.

Give yourself time to get used to it and adjust accordingly. I read somewhere that it can take 30 days of consistently doing something for it to become a habit. Give yourself time to get used to your cleaning schedule before you decide it isn’t working. After a period of time, adjust if necessary. After all, it’s not set in stone!